McDonald’s Place in Our Society | Society

Written by Paul Montrone '22

McDonald’s, the prominent fast-food giant and staple of American culture, has been serving customers for over sixty-five years. Throughout those years, McDonald’s has gained widespread popularity and become a symbol of American influence worldwide, but its relationship with society has somewhat been that of a roller coaster, both good and bad. With over thirty-seven thousand restaurants found in over one hundred twenty countries, McDonald’s is certainly one of the most recognizable fast-food chains in the world. However, despite its ubiquity and popularity to many, McDonald’s still possesses a notorious reputation of serving non-nutritious and cheap food. Even more, the social norm of eating at McDonald’s has become taboo. Is this stigma actually deserved?

One of the main reasons for McDonald’s tainted reputation for causing obesity and making low-quality food stem from the 2004 documentary, “Super Size Me”, which points blame at McDonald’s for being a major contributor to America’s obesity epidemic. The movie was shocking to the general public, who had never before questioned where they were getting their food, and taught an entire generation of millennials that McDonald’s food was poison. In 2014, another exposé revealed how McDonald’s used “ammonia-treated lean beef trimmings”, also known as LFTB (lean finely textured beef), but better known as its less disingenuous name “pink slime”, to make their chicken nuggets. These revelations among a plethora of others branded McDonald’s as an “evil” company that prioritized making a cheap buck rather than caring about the content or quality of its food. This marred image of McDonald’s had led the company to suffer a steady decline in sales in the following years. But, as with most forms of mass media, information can be misleading.

The term “pink slime” surfaced around 2012 after USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein publicly criticized the practice of treating lean beef trimmings with ammonia gas to kill bacteria, and many lawsuits over LFTB were filed. Still, the USDA has maintained that these lawsuits were “without merit”, and so LFTB remains approved for consumption to this day. Nevertheless, McDonald’s has not used LFTB for over seven years.

Not only was “pink slime” not nearly as bad as the name suggested, but it was not actually used in only McDonald’s products. Once the term “pink slime” emerged, McDonald’s, as well as major supermarkets, restaurants, and other fast-food chains, including Burger King and Taco Bell, all publicly announced to stop using LFTB. Yet, likely because of McDonald’s ubiquity, this image stuck with only McDonald’s. Thankfully, its reputation has improved somewhat over the past few years, especially as customers began using food delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash.

McDonald’s is a cultural staple. According to Gallup, ninety-six percent of Americans eat fast food at least once per year. Very few other places, including gyms, libraries, or even religious institutions, are this ubiquitous. With America becoming increasingly divided these days, fast food restaurants are one of the few places where truly everyone is welcome.

Despite being unfairly branded by its tarnished reputation, McDonald’s has made a concerted effort to become a more healthy and transparent fast food restaurant. In 2013, McDonald’s began working together with the nonprofit company Alliance for a Healthier Generation to devise a 20-year plan to add healthier options to the McDonald’s menu. Since then, McDonald’s has completely transformed the kid’s “Happy Meal”, making several changes such as adding apple slices, shrinking serving sizes of fries, and removing cheeseburgers.

Still, today McDonald’s is making a continuous effort to provide simplistic ingredients and to add more nutrients to the menu. By 2022, in accordance with its new Global Happy Meal Nutrition Criteria, McDonald’s aims to still continue making its food healthier. They also plan to reduce antibiotics use in over 85% of their beef. Already, McDonald’s has begun to be looked upon more favorably. Ray Kroc famously explained that in any industry, “Look after the customers and the business will take care of itself.”

So, has McDonald’s done enough to shake its tainted reputation?

McDonald’s

Image from Fortune. https://fortune.com/2017/06/20/mcdonalds-sandwich-fastfood/

McDonald's in Manhattan